“The Gamblers” has a change of mood

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32775, 27 November 1971, Page 4

“The Gamblers” has a change of mood

Although it has not been running long, “The Gamblers” has already shown a variety of moods. This week’s story “Lily Jumps and Jim Loses” carried a blend of paths and whimsy, a strange but attractive little story.

Norman Rossington, who, it will be remembered, was the delightful felon in “Woily Wenpol” recently, was a flamboyant character in this play—an Irish bricklayer with a passion for horseracing. And for going to the races armed with a bottle of wine. And a fruit cake. He turned out, in the end, to be as nutty as one; his poor benumbed wife, distraught by his apparent indifference to her, had sought psychiatric aid; but when the men came with the ambulance, it was to take him away, not her. It was a fanciful tale, all tragi-comedy, but deftly told and Rossington, with his lilting voice, his vigour, and his fruit cake, was an unforgettable character. Carmel McSharry was a perfect foil as his wife Lily, living, as she said, in a vacuum, although this brick-

layer had evidently done extremely well, with his fine Scandinavian-type house; no doubt a wry commentary on the social structure of Britain today. The final horse-race fantasy when Lily went over the sticks with the steeds was an imaginative passage. The success of the unusual tale was also attributable to Maureen Toal, as the voluptuous lady from next door. * >!> *

The Place has disappeared, the Street goes on. Thursday’s episode was notable for the performance of Patricia Phoenix. She really is a very good actress. But there is very little which can be said in support of “Lancer” being presented as adult, mid-evening entertainment. It is utterly tiredlooking, with its familiar father-and-sons set-up, the inevitable comic but commendable old character—this one called Jelly. Thursday’s story dripped with sentiment all the way Sentiment is an admirable ingredient in any picture of human relationships, but when it is applied so blatantly it is a little nauseating. Here we had a fine old landowner still grieving over the death of his son, and in a fantasy world about it, and old

Jelly selling his boots, of which he was tremendously proud, to buy a pig for his boss’s birthday, and the handsome daughter of the fine old landowner appearing in one of the yoong Lancer’s bath-tub in an effort to get from him a fine old rifle which she wanted to present to her fine old father. It was a dreary business. # # *

Air Commodore T. F. Gill, M.P., appeared briefly on “Gallery” to explain changes in proposed legislation aimed at countering teen-age drug abuses. David Exel did his best to stir the ashes with some most pro-vocatively-phrased questions, but failed, in the face of a quiet, measured explanation. “Gallery” did better with its report on the “Young Jesus” group. It was a highly interesting item, and a revealing one. The religious movement provided some impressive spokesmen for this picture of its activities and enthusiasm.—PANDOßA.

NATIONAL LINK [lncluding 3YA Christchurch (690 kilohertz); 2YA Wellington (570 kilohertz); 4YA Dunedin (750 kilohertz); and 3YZ Greymouth (920 kilohertz)] SATURDAY NATIONAL LINK 7 p.m.: Sports Review. 7.30: Folkways. 8.0; Sherlock Holmes. 8.30; Weather and News. 8.40: Looking at Ourselves. 8.50: Local Sports Results. 9.0: Those Were the Days. 9.30: Doctor at Large. 10.0: Sounds Great. 10.30: N.Z.B.C. News, Weather. 10.45: Cabaret Time. 11.0: 8.8. C. News and Commentary. 11.15: All Night Programme. 1.0 a.m.: Serenade. 2.30: Light Music from the Netherlands. 3.3: Streamline. 4.9: Music of the Maori. 3YC, CHRISTCHURCH (960 kilohertz)

7 p.m.: Alessandro Scarlatti: Concerto grosso No. 1 in F minor—Scarlatti Orchestra of Naples under Ettore Gratis. 7.14: Mozart: Sonata No. 13 in B flat (K. 333 Daniel Barenboim (piano). 7.35: Heather Macdonald (soprano), Elizabeth Bamett (piano)—Rodrigo: With what shall I wash my face?, Down by the Poplars; Montsalvatge: Cuba on a Keyboard, Humorous Flirtation; Chevere, Cradle Song, Negro Song; Falla: Song of the Will-o-the-wisp; Polo (N.Z.8.C.). 8.0: N.Z.B.C. Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by Meredith Davies. Ladislav Jasek (violin) Tchaikovsky: Overture; Romeo and Juliet, Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35 (Interval), Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64. 10.0; A Man of Some Mark. (1) Sir James Shelley, by Dr C. E. Beeby. 10.15: Verdi: Ettore Bastianini (baritone), Mario del Monaco (tenor), Santa Cecilia Academy Chorus and Orchestra under Francesco MolinariPradelli. 10.35: Hummel: Piano Quintet in E flat. Op. 87—Lamar Crowson (piano), Members, of the Melos Ensemble. 3ZB, CHRISTCHURCH (1100 kilohertz) 72 p.nf.: Trotting Information. 7.4: Party Night. 3ZM, CHRISTCHURCH (1400 kilohertz) 7.30 p.m.: Things are Swinging. 10.0: From the Top Pops.

SUNDAY NATIONAL LINK 11 a.m.: Morning Service. —St Catherine’s Dominican Priory, Invercargill. Celebrant and preacher, the Rev. Fr John Pound with the choir of St Teresa’s School, conducted by Sister Mary Cecily. 7 p.m.: Evening Service. Dunedin Salvation Army / Fortress. Preacher, Major-C. G. Williams. Bandmaster, J. B. Kitto. Songster Leader, W. H. Ide. 8.0: Musical Miniatures. 8.30: Weather and News. 8.40: Point of View. 9.5: A Symphonic Picture of Porgy and Bess. 9.30: Books of the Week. 10.0: The History of Operetta. 10.30: N.ZJB.C. News, Weather. 10,49: The Epilogue for First Sunday in, Advent. 11.15: All night programme. 12.6 a.m.: Records to Remember. 1.20: Round the Home. 1.55: Rugby League: . New Zealand v. France (Third Test). 3YC, CHRISTCHURCH (960 kilohertz) 7 p.m.: 1971 N.Z.B.C. Orchestral Trainees. Conducted by Ashley Heenan Vivaldi: Sinfonia No. 3; Bach: Harpsichord Concerto No. 3 in D (Soloist, Anthony Jennings). 7.25: Jocelyn Walker (piano). Brahms: Sonata in F minor, Op. 5. 8.2: John Mitchinson (tenor). N.Z.B.C. Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by Jacques Singer. Handel: Love in her eyes sits playing (Asis and Galatea); Gounod: All hail, thou dwelling (Faust); Verdi: Woman is fickle (Rigoletto). 8.17: Prague Spring Festival —Moscow State Philharmonic Orchestra under Kiri! Kondrashin. Prokofiev: Classical Symphony in D; Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (1936). 9.2: The Proposal, short story by Roma Sherries, read by Marjorie Westbury. 9.16: Schwetzingen Festival — Teresa Berganza (mezzosoprano), South German Radio Symphony under Leopold Hager. Mozart: Concert Aria: Alma grande e nobile (K. 578 Voi che sapete (The Marriage of Figaro); Divertimento in D (K. 205 Rossini: RondoFinale: Cinderella’s Arioso (La Cenerentola). 9.48: Shostakovich: Sonata in D

minor, Op. 40 (1934) — Mstislav Rostropovich (cello), Dimitri Shostakovich (piano). 10.15: Beethoven: Symphony No. 7-in A, Op. 92 (1812) Vienna Philharmonic Orches-’ tra under Hans SchmidtIsserstedt. 3ZB, CHRISTCHURCH (1100 kilohertz) 7.2 p.m.: Golden Oldie Yo Yo Show. 7.30: Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case. 8.2: The Scaffold. 8.30: I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again. 9.2: The Last of Sherlock Holmes. 10.15: Brian Marston Concert Orchestra. 11.45: The Epilogue. 3ZM, CHRISTCHURCH 6 p.m.: Top in Pop.

CHTV3 Today 2.00 p.m.: Headline news. 2.03: Green Acres. Comedy. 2.30: Afternoon Sport—tennis from Wellington, N.Z. Open golf from Dunedin. 5.31: Headline news, weather. 5.34: The Bugs Bunny Show. 5.58: Check for Fitness. 6.09: Happen Inn. Popular Music. 6.55: Racing—Gold Cup at Te Rapa. (Recorded.) 7.00: Network news. 7.20: Weather. Local news. 7.31: What’s My Line? Quiz. 7.56: Paul Temple—“ The Masked Lady.” Detective. 8.51: Newsbrief. 8.53: Film (1966) —“Arabesque” (Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren). Mystery. 10.45: Science Report. 10.57: Late news, weather. 11.03: The Flip Wilson Show. Variety. Tomorrow 2.00 p.m.: Headline news. 2.03: Film (1959)—“T00 Many Crooks” (Terry-Thomas, George Cole). Comedy. 3.25: Golf—New Zealand Open from Dunedin. 5.23: Storyline. 5.28: The Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp Show. 5.52: Headline news, weather. 5.55: Disneyland “The Three Lives of Thomasina.” First of two parts. 6.45: Scrutiny. Church and society. 7.00: Network news. 7.15: Local news. 7.18: Weather. 7.23: Country Calendar. 7.38: The Forty-five. Music. 8.27: His And Hers—“ Television.” Comedy. 8.50: Newsbrief. 8.52: The Main Chance^—“Settlement Day.” Drama. 9.44: Comedy Playhouse—“ Thank You Sir, Thank You Madam.” 10.13: & Beautiful 11. Documentary. 11.02: Late news, weather.